BACKGROUND – Where does law come from? Vocabulary: Precedent Stare Decisis Common Law Equity Statute Regulations Jurisdiction Subject Matter Personal Diversity Bill of Rights American law based on English common law (except Louisiana – Napoleanic code) Developed by judges Law courts, and equity courts Stare Decisis (stand by the decision) aka Precedent Why? Consistency Predictability Stability Lower courts must follow decisions of higher courts What about the need for change? Source of law today in US Federal Constitution – supreme law of the land Original constitution Bill of Rights First –speech, assembly, establishment or free exercise of religion Second – right to ‘bear arms’ 2

Third – no quartering of soldiers Fourth – search and seizures, life liberty or property without due process Fifth – testify against self Sixth – trial by jury in criminal case Seventh – trial by jury in civil if had right at common law Eighth – excessive bail or fines, cruel and unusual punishment Ninth - enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people Tenth - the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Additional Amendments Thirteen – abolish slavery Fourteenth – apply other amendments to states Citizenship Clause overruled the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which held that blacks could not be citizens of the United States. Its

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